The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for anchoring an object to a support structure and, more particularly, to the secure mounting of an object to a low-strength support structure, such as a porous masonry wall or a block-type structure having interior hollow cavities, by filling an anchoring hole with a hardenable substance.
In general, prior art has encountered very serious difficulties when attempting to mount an object, such as a cladding panel, onto a low-strength support structure. It is generally known in the prior art to utilize sleeve-shaped dowels which have a squashed or compressed leading end that is bent backwardly in the form of hook-like curvatures for increasing the anchorage effect. After a large-sized hole has been provided in the support structure and filled with a hardenable bonding substance, such a a quick-setting cement mixture, the smaller-sized dowel or anchoring member is inserted into the still soft cement mixture. In this prior art approach, the hook-like curvatures are relied upon to prevent the cement mixture from entering the interior bore of the dowel.
However, the prior art technique has not proven altogether effective in preventing the cement mixture from flowing into the dowel. This is particularly disadvantageous because the cement blocks the interior bore of the dowel and prevents the insertion of a mounting screw. Moreover, the known techniques are suitable only for fastening objects to the ground, that is, those cases in which the hardenable substance is prevented by gravity from flowing out of the anchoring hole before the substance has hardened. Upon insertion of the dowel after the anchoring hole has been filled with cement, the cement tends to flow therefrom and will smear the exterior of the support structure. Thus, the known methods are particularly unsuitable for mounting objects to vertical walls and/or ceilings.
In addition, the known prior art methods entail the risk that the dowel will sink down into the still soft cement mixture due to its own inherent weight. To prevent this undesired change in position, the prior art requires one to hold the dowel in position until the cement mixture has set, or to use expensive holding devices. Thus, in the case of the large-scale manufacture of precast concrete parts, the dowels are held in position by spikes arranged on sheeting boards, the spikes projecting into the interior bore of the dowels for a time sufficient for the cement mixture to set.
Moreover, the prior art has not adequately dealt with the problem of air pockets formed in the hardenable substance which tend to weaken the anchorage.